The event, scheduled for early August, will again pair racing events in West Reading and Reading while attempting to raise the bar from September's event.

"We are very happy to be allowing the borough to be the venue for again," West Reading Councilman Nicholas F. Imbesi said on behalf of council Tuesday night; the council unanimously approved the event last week. "We hope it can become a destination event for Pennsylvania and perhaps the entire eastern United States."

The first iteration of the festival in September was put together in only a few months to replace the Reading 120, which was canceled in late spring.

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The 2017 Reading Radsport Festival drew 150 professional racers from 26 states and nine countries; 120 amateurs from six states; and 45 kids and teens from throughout Berks County.

Festival organizing committee member Eric Schippers said he is happy to see race return. But more than making a comeback, Schippers said he is excited for the chance to see the event reach new heights.

"Last time, we only had a few months to figure out how to put on the race and get the word out," said Schippers, senior vice president of Wyomissing-based Penn National Gaming Inc. "Now with advance approval we have an opportunity to build on what we did last year."

Schippers said organizers are aiming to amplify the positive energy and collaboration that came with the first race.

West Reading Council President Carl G. Garman said both the festival and the borough will benefit by having it in West Reading.

“West Reading is the best choice the officials could've made to have the bike race,” Garman said in a written statement. “West Reading has a lot to offer and I have to say that our borough manager, Cathy Hoffman; Police Chief Steve Powell; public works director Dean Murray; Fire Chief Mark Burkholder and all of their staff, as well as the residents of the borough, are the reason the first race went so well.”

“So I can imagine next year's race will go just as well if not better,” Garman wrote.

The event's organizers have taken input from small business owners in Reading and moved the race from September, when it was held last year, to the first weekend of August.

"August is a little slower for a lot of shops," Schippers said. "West Reading has more going on in September; this could be a shot in the arm for them."

The date works better for the borough, which has a number of events already planned for September, and could boost local business, Imbesi said.

"It helps bring people into the borough and show off what we have done with Penn Avenue and all the great shops and restaurants on the avenue," Imbesi said.

The West Reading Twilight Criterium, an nearly mile-long race with a five-corner course through the borough, will be held Saturday, Aug. 4. The next day will be dedicated to the Mount Penn Hill Climb - a bike race starting in City Park and climbing Duryea Drive past the Pagoda to the William Penn Memorial Fire Tower on Skyline Drive - according to Schippers.

Event planners still have to speak with City of Reading officials for the Mount Penn facet of the weekend event and Schippers said he is optimistic everything will come together. Daphne Klahr, executive director of the Reading Recreation Commission, told the Reading Eagle last week that the city is on board with the plan.

Along with the hundreds of racers, last year's festival attracted thousands of cheering spectators.

Schippers said organizers are thinking about holding a contest for races' the most boisterous cheering sections, making it a competition of sorts for the people on the sidelines.

The biggest concern raised by residents was the lack of parking in West Reading during the race in September, according to Imbesi.

Radsport organizers paid overtime costs for borough employees who worked the race in September and again will pay for overtime but also any other costs the borough may incur by hosting the festival, Imbesi said.

"This year it will be fully covered," he said.

The 2017 festival was sponsored by Reading Eagle Company, Penn National Gaming, Pretzel City Productions, WEEU and the Edwin Barbey Charitable Trust.Peter D. Barbey, president and CEO of Reading Eagle Company, said West Reading is an perfect venue for the Criterium."I'm excited that West Reading has agreed again to be the location of the second annual Radsport Twilight Criterium race," Barbey said in a written statement. "It really is an ideal location for this type of event, offering outdoor cafe viewing, bars, restaurants and shopping along with one of the prettiest, fastest race courses in the East — the pro men and women race at over thirty miles an hour, shoulder to shoulder, on the long Penn Avenue straightaway."Barbey also commended both the leadership in the city and the borough for helping make the festival possible. "The best part though is that both sides of the bridge are working together in a big way to build this event," Barbey also wrote. "We expect to draw over 200 riders at the Mount Penn Hill climb the next day."

Schippers said he hopes to attract other businesses to become sponsors of next year's event.

"We want this to have a broader ripple effect for the community," Schippers said.